ALLAN BRACK

I always knew I was an artist, yet apart from brief periods of personal creative work, I have spent my professional life promoting and facilitating the art of others. This changed two years ago, along with my whole thinking and approach to life. When I found myself, I also found the artist, and as I recovered, so did he.

My artwork documents the journey – the longing to belong. Two years into the journey, the depth of imagery and of meaning, which has opened up for me, feels deeper than any ocean. I am continually awe-struck not only by the depth of the issues of life but also with the magic of art and creative thought.

Each day is a day of discovery and a growing list of influences in art, the work of: Turner, Blake, Valette, Yeats, Goya and Cezanne, have all affected my work. An appreciation of abstraction, but also a yearning to be clear and understood, has combined to create my own imagery, my own style and my own way of telling the story.

“These works are expressions of feeling and explorations of emotion. The central image, the hull of a ship, also serves as a metaphor for a journey from emotional storm and stress to joy, from painful past to liberated present. This journey is both nostalgic – the artist recalls images from his boyhood when he used to accompany his father on his job of painting the stonework of light houses – and therapeutic. These pictures represent the artist’s recovery of himself; but the experience does not end on a note of rescue: recovery is a starting point from which Brack launches himself out onto the unknown depths of the future, discovering as he goes spiritual affirmation, inspiration and the courage to have faith in the journey. The sequence of pictures as he does them is the embodiment of that continuing journey whose destination is where Brack happens to be at the point of painting. Individually, his paintings are impressive but as a sequence they are unforgettable.”

Jim Greenhalf – art critic Bradford Telegraph and Argus.

I was born in Bradford where I studied Fine Art Printmaking at Bradford College (1976 -79). Since then I have worked in the arts most notably as the creator/director of the Bradford Festival (1987 – 01). I have a particular interest and enthusiasm for the issues of arts and regeneration, and the need for the green shoots of an organic and holistic approach.

I have had several exhibitions and shown work at: Bradford University; South Square Gallery, Bradford; Dean Clough Contemporary Art Gallery, Halifax and a solo exhibition of work at the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust headquarters in York, who have purchased some of my work for their permanent collection.

I am currently working with pastel and emulsion paint on brown-paper, these images measure approx 30”x40” framed. Along with using my digital camera, I also work in my sketch books with black pen, pencil and charcoal. These mediums combine and influence each other. I seek the physical elements of the environment which I go on to include in my painting. I intend to further experiment, including the use of writing, poetry and printed material.